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.Neither, indeed, could I forbear smiling at myself, when thequeen used to place me upon her hand towards a looking-glass, by which both our persons appeared beforeme in full view together; and there could be nothing more ridiculous than the comparison; so that I reallybegan to imagine myself dwindled many degrees below my usual size.Nothing angered and mortified me so much as the queen's dwarf; who being of the lowest stature that wasever in that country (for I verily think he was not full thirty feet high), became so insolent at seeing a creatureso much beneath him, that he would always affect to swagger and look big as he passed by me in the queen'santechamber, while I was standing on some table talking with the lords or ladies of the court, and he seldomfailed of a smart word or two upon my littleness; against which I could only revenge myself by calling himbrother, challenging him to wrestle, and such repartees as are usually in the mouths of court pages.One day,at dinner, this malicious little cub was so nettled with something I had said to him, that, raising himself uponthe frame of her majesty's chair, he took me up by the middle, as I was sitting down, not thinking any harm,and let me drop into a large silver bowl of cream, and then ran away as fast as he could.I fell over head andears, and, if I had not been a good swimmer, it might have gone very hard with me; for Glumdalclitch in thatinstant happened to be at the other end of the room, and the queen was in such a fright, that she wantedpresence of mind to assist me.But my little nurse ran to my relief, and took me out, after I had swallowedabove a quart of cream.I was put to bed: however, I received no other damage than the loss of a suit ofclothes, which was utterly spoiled.The dwarf was soundly whipt, and as a farther punishment, forced to drinkup the bowl of cream into which he had thrown me: neither was he ever restored to favour; for soon after thequeen bestowed him on a lady of high quality, so that I saw him no more, to my very great satisfaction; for Icould not tell to what extremities such a malicious urchin might have carried his resentment.He had before served me a scurvy trick, which set the queen a-laughing, although at the same time she washeartily vexed, and would have immediately cashiered him, if I had not been so generous as to intercede.Hermajesty had taken a marrow-bone upon her plate, and, after knocking out the marrow, placed the bone againin the dish erect, as it stood before; the dwarf, watching his opportunity, while Glumdalclitch was gone to theside-board, mounted the stool that she stood on to take care of me at meals, took me up in both hands, andsqueezing my legs together, wedged them into the marrow bone above my waist, where I stuck for some time,and made a very ridiculous figure.I believe it was near a minute before any one knew what was become ofme; for I thought it below me to cry out.But, as princes seldom get their meat hot, my legs were not scalded,only my stockings and breeches in a sad condition.The dwarf, at my entreaty, had no other punishment thana sound whipping.I was frequently rallied by the queen upon account of my fearfulness; and she used to ask me whether thepeople of my country were as great cowards as myself? The occasion was this: the kingdom is much pesteredwith flies in summer; and these odious insects, each of them as big as a Dunstable lark, hardly gave me anyrest while I sat at dinner, with their continual humming and buzzing about mine ears.They would sometimesalight upon my victuals, and leave their loathsome excrement, or spawn behind, which to me was very visible,though not to the natives of that country, whose large optics were not so acute as mine, in viewing smallerCHAPTER III.44Gulliver's Travelsobjects.Sometimes they would fix upon my nose, or forehead, where they stung me to the quick, smellingvery offensively; and I could easily trace that viscous matter, which, our naturalists tell us, enables thosecreatures to walk with their feet upwards upon a ceiling.I had much ado to defend myself against thesedetestable animals, and could not forbear starting when they came on my face.It was the common practice ofthe dwarf, to catch a number of these insects in his hand, as schoolboys do among us, and let them outsuddenly under my nose, on purpose to frighten me, and divert the queen.My remedy was to cut them inpieces with my knife, as they flew in the air, wherein my dexterity was much admired.I remember, one morning, when Glumdalclitch had set me in a box upon a window, as she usually did in fairdays to give me air (for I durst not venture to let the box be hung on a nail out of the window, as we do withcages in England), after I had lifted up one of my sashes, and sat down at my table to eat a piece of sweet cakefor my breakfast, above twenty wasps, allured by the smell, came flying into the room, humming louder thanthe drones of as many bagpipes.Some of them seized my cake, and carried it piecemeal away; others flewabout my head and face, confounding me with the noise, and putting me in the utmost terror of their stings.However, I had the courage to rise and draw my hanger, and attack them in the air.I dispatched four of them,but the rest got away, and I presently shut my window.These insects were as large as partridges: I took outtheir stings, found them an inch and a half long, and as sharp as needles.I carefully preserved them all; andhaving since shown them, with some other curiosities, in several parts of Europe, upon my return to England Igave three of them to Gresham College, and kept the fourth for myself.CHAPTER IV.[The country described.A proposal for correcting modern maps.The king's palace; and some account of themetropolis.The author's way of travelling.The chief temple described.]I now intend to give the reader a short description of this country, as far as I travelled in it, which was notabove two thousand miles round Lorbrulgrud, the metropolis.For the queen, whom I always attended, neverwent farther when she accompanied the king in his progresses, and there staid till his majesty returned fromviewing his frontiers.The whole extent of this prince's dominions reaches about six thousand miles in length,and from three to five in breadth: whence I cannot but conclude, that our geographers of Europe are in a greaterror, by supposing nothing but sea between Japan and California; for it was ever my opinion, that there mustbe a balance of earth to counterpoise the great continent of Tartary; and therefore they ought to correct theirmaps and charts, by joining this vast tract of land to the north-west parts of America, wherein I shall be readyto lend them my assistance.The kingdom is a peninsula, terminated to the north-east by a ridge of mountains thirty miles high, which arealtogether impassable, by reason of the volcanoes upon the tops: neither do the most learned know what sortof mortals inhabit beyond those mountains, or whether they be inhabited at all.On the three other sides, it isbounded by the ocean [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]